Deputy Service Desk Lead

Strategic Operational Solutions (STOPSO) is seeking a Deputy Service Desk Lead to provide onsite support in Arlington, Virginia. The role supports enterprise Service Desk operations within a federal customer environment and serves as the primary operational backup to the Service Desk Manager.

Responsibilities

• Support the Service Desk Manager in daily execution and oversight of Tier 0‑through‑Tier 2 Service Desk operations.
• Provide direct day‑to‑day leadership, guidance, and operational support to Service Desk personnel.
• Coordinate staffing, workload distribution, queue assignments, and operational coverage to meet customer and mission requirements.
• Monitor ticket queues (volume, aging, backlog, priority, response times, resolution progress) and ensure effective triage, troubleshooting, documentation, assignment, escalation, and resolution.
• Provide technical and procedural guidance to personnel and assist with complex incidents and service requests.
• Review escalations from Tier 0‑2 to ensure proper troubleshooting and documentation before transfer to Tier 3 or specialized resolver groups.
• Coordinate escalations with Tier 3, engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and other technical teams; track issues through resolution.
• Assist the Service Desk Manager in monitoring performance against SLAs, SLOs, KPIs, contractual requirements, and customer expectations.
• Identify emerging operational issues, ticket trends, staffing concerns, service degradation, and potential performance risks; elevate as appropriate.
• Provide operational oversight of high‑priority, aging, recurring, mission‑impacting, or customer‑sensitive incidents and ensure appropriate communication.
• Assist with technician coaching, mentoring, training, quality assurance, and professional development.
• Review ticket documentation and technician performance for quality, accuracy, completeness, customer communication, and compliance.
• Support development and maintenance of Service Desk SOPs, knowledge articles, troubleshooting documentation, workflows, and escalation procedures.
• Promote knowledge sharing and shift‑left opportunities to increase incident resolution within Tier 0‑2.
• Assist with onboarding and integration of new Service Desk personnel (training, access coordination, orientation, performance expectations).
• Support implementation of new technologies, service transitions, process changes, and continuous service improvement initiatives.
• Assist with preparation of performance reports, operational metrics, ticket trend analyses, staffing information, and other management reporting.
• Maintain awareness of customer concerns and recurring service issues; work with the Service Desk Manager to identify corrective actions.
• Promote a professional, responsive, and customer‑focused Service Desk culture.
• Ensure personnel comply with cybersecurity requirements, government policies, program procedures, and contractual requirements.
• Participate in operational, technical coordination, customer discussion, and service review meetings as directed.
• Serve as acting Service Desk Manager when the manager is unavailable, ensuring continuity of operations, leadership, and customer support.
• Perform additional duties as required to support Service Desk and overall program objectives.

Education, Experience, and Security Requirements

• Minimum of three (3) years of progressive experience supporting enterprise Service Desk, Help Desk, desktop support, or comparable end‑user IT support operations.
• Experience in a technical lead, team lead, shift lead, supervisory, or other leadership capacity within an IT support environment.
• Experience supporting Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical troubleshooting and incident resolution.
• Working knowledge of IT Service Management principles and ITIL‑based processes (Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, Problem Management, Knowledge Management, Service Level Management).
• Experience using enterprise ITSM or ticketing platforms to manage incidents, service requests, assignments, escalations, and workload.
• Ability to analyze ticket queues and operational performance data to identify leadership‑level issues.
• Demonstrated ability to coach technical personnel, provide constructive feedback, and reinforce processes and performance expectations.
• Strong technical troubleshooting, analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for interaction with technicians, customers, technical teams, management, and government stakeholders.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and maintain effectiveness in a high‑volume enterprise support environment.
• Active IAT Level II certification required at start date.
• U.S. Citizenship required pursuant to government contract requirements.
• Ability to obtain a DoD Top Secret clearance (including SCI) prior to entry on duty and successfully complete the required background investigation.

Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Management, or related discipline (or equivalent professional experience where permitted).
• Relevant certifications such as CompTIA, Microsoft, cybersecurity, IT service management, or other technical credentials.
• Experience supporting Department of War, National Guard, Department of Defense, or other Federal Government IT environments.
• Experience supporting Tier 0‑through‑Tier 2 operations within a large‑scale enterprise Service Desk.
• Experience with ServiceNow or comparable enterprise ITSM platforms.
• Experience supervising or leading Service Desk technicians across multiple support tiers.
• Experience with quality assurance, ticket auditing, technician coaching, and performance improvement.
• Experience analyzing Service Desk metrics, ticket trends, backlog, aging, response/resolution times, first‑contact resolution, and customer satisfaction.
• Experience coordinating technical escalations between Service Desk personnel and Tier 3 or specialized technical teams.
• Experience developing or maintaining technical knowledge articles, SOPs, troubleshooting guides, and Service Desk documentation.
• Experience supporting technology deployments, service transitions, process improvements, or organizational change initiatives.
• Strong customer service, stakeholder engagement, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills.
• ITIL 4 Foundation or higher certification.

Working Conditions

The position is performed onsite in Arlington, Virginia, within a generally favorable office environment with adequate lighting, temperature, and standard office equipment. Minimal travel is required. The role involves standard office work and does not expose the employee to hazardous or unpleasant conditions such as excessive noise or dust.